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Altech Chemicals Ltd delivers another milestone to develop HPA project

Published: 11:00 06 May 2016 AEST

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Altech Chemicals Ltd (ASX:ATC) has negotiated a settlement for the land that encompasses its Meckering mining lease application in Western Australia.

Previously, the landowners had objected to the application but the parties have now agreed to settle for an undisclosed amount.

The terms of the settlement include the landowners granting Altech an option to purchase 94 hectares of land which includes the mining lease area.

The option will last for 18 months and mining operations may commence only after the purchase of the land by Altech.

Altech managing director, Mr Iggy Tan commented: “the company is delighted to have reached agreement with the landowners for the freehold land purchase at Meckering.

The grant of M70/1334 can now proceed without objection, following which the company will submit a Mining Proposal (MP) and a Mine Closure Plan (MCP), and upon approval of these items (and subject to funding) mining operations at Meckering will be ready to commence."

“This is yet another significant milestone achieved in the march to develop the Company’s high purity alumina project”.


Background

Altech is aiming to become one of the world's leading suppliers of 99.99% high purity alumina (HPA).

HPA is a high-value, high margin and highly demanded product as it is the critical ingredient required for the production of artificial sapphire.

Artificial sapphire is used in the manufacture of substrates for LED lights, semiconductor wafers used in the electronics industry, and scratch-resistant artificial sapphire glass used for wristwatch faces, optical windows and smartphone components.

There is no substitute for HPA in the manufacture of artificial sapphire.


Meckering

The mining lease application at Meckering is estimated to contain ~11 million tonnes of kaolin mineral resources, which will be sufficient to supply feedstock for Altech’s proposed Malaysia HPA plant for in excess of 250 years.

Altech is planning to mine 120,000 tonnes of kaolin at Meckering every three years on a campaign basis, each mining campaign will last two months.

The resultant raw kaolin will be stockpiled, then containerised into standard shipping containers at the rate of around 40,000 tonnes per annum and transport to Johor for processing into HPA at the company’s proposed plant.


Analysis

Meckering is an important asset in Altech's strategy to become one of the world's leading suppliers of 99.99% HPA.

Altech's share price has continues to perform strongly, trading currently at $0.10 per share, up circa 95% over the previous 12 months.

Achieving project financing for the proposed Malaysian HPA plant will be a key catalyst for the company going forward.

 

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